ネイティブが教える英会話のジェムスクール☆Teachers☆

Today, I bought my first game I intend to play in Japanese: Pokemon Let's Go Eevee. I've been wanting to do this ever since I started studying Japanese but I was never good enough and always got frustrated when I tried. Now that my skills have gotten better, I will attempt again and am confident that I will succeed! Pokemon was my first love as a kid and what introduced me to Nintendo. One of the reasons why I wanted to study Japanese was because I wanted to play Nintendo's games in their original language. Although I have grown out of games for the most part, I am excited to have the nostalgic feeling of playing through one of my favorite series in the original language. Wish me luck!  

For my birthday, my husband Gary-Sensei, gifted me this neat digital photo frame! My birthday was February 6th and I am STILL sifting through pictures! I think I'm stuck on Memory Lane because I can't decide on what pictures to post.

To make it easy I've only allowed myself to pick 10 pictures. So far I've brought myself down to 23 pictures. I have 13 more to eliminate! Maybe I can go without the picture taken on one of our first dates 6 years ago? Hmmm, I think I can part with the picture of us cosplaying for a convention. I'm sure I can get rid of that photograph of us dancing on Fort Lauderdale beach.





I think I need to give myself a deadline! We just have so many great memories!
  

I don't like pushy sales people! In fact, even if I want to buy something, if you are too aggressive when trying to sell it to me, I will probably decide not to buy it at all.

There was a stall at the grocery store and they were very actively pushing their wares. Admittedly, one of the things they were selling was really tasty, but they annoyed me with their sales style. I didn't buy anything and that awkward feeling will be a reminder if they come back, meaning I won't buy then either.  

Last Saturday, I went to the mall for a haircut. My stylist is a pretty nice guy who knows me pretty well. He's cut my hair since I first hovered nervously in the salon's doorway, timidly asking for a haircut. I get my hair cut twice a year.

My stylist surprised me by remembering our last conversation about movies. He threw down an entertainment magazine and we talked about a lot of the pages enthusiastically. I used to see movies about 4 times a month so it was nostalgic for me.

My friends and I used to go to a bookstore called Borders. It was a little expensive but was big and had a large selection. They were the first mainstream place that I saw selling manga. In Japan, it's okay to stand around and read books, but in Michigan it was a little frowned upon. The worry was that if you were reading it, you wouldn't buy it. That was quite true! I read a few different series in the bookstore.

We would go to Borders about an hour before our movie. We would enjoy some coffee and look at magazines (carefully) and discuss movies and TV shows coming out. Then we would drive up a hill to the theater, get our tickets, and rush into the room to grab our seats.

Most theaters I went to, did not have assigned seating. I had to stressfully claim a bunch of seats in the middle of the row. There was an unwritten rule that if you put down your purse or coats on a seat, then it was yours. I often stayed behind to "save seats" while my friends went back for food and drinks.

It's nice not having to worry about grabbing a seat when I go to the movies in Japan. But have regretted my choice a few times and wished I could have moved.
  

The wind would have blown the "Parachute chicks" away so everyone, including me, held on tight and made them fly anyway- while running! Did I say, including me?! You bet! I had just as much fun as the kids did! Especially watching their smiles!

They arrived, some scared. Not knowing what to expect. Color eggs?? You could tell many didn't even know what that meant. Crayon on the egg first? Why? But when the eggs came out of the colored water all bright with their crayon drawings, their faces lit right up! They understood that they created something very special- their first Easter Egg!!

Then, of course, they knew what the English words "pot luck picnic" meant really quick! Yummy, Yummy!! They got the idea real quick for the "parachute chicks".....but what is an Easter egg hunt?!! When they saw all the eggs laying all over the ground and were told they got to have two eggs, they figured it out! But again, not having done it before, many had to be shown that inside their egg was another surprise!

By the time it came to sing "Good-bye" they didn't want to go! I even saw a few tears! What? It's over!! No! Many stayed to enjoy the park!

This was my first Easter Picnic at GEM. I have to say, I had just as much fun as the kids! What a wonderful way to enjoy each other outside the classroom. A perfect way to get to know another side of each other. A way to have fun while exchanging cultural ideas! I've had fun in Japan going to festivals and special places in order to learn the culture, so it is nice to share a little of ours!

Thank you GEM for making this happen!!

  

Over the weekend I went to get a haircut for the first time in Japan. It was really nice! They made sure that they were doing what I wanted and asked if I was okay with what they wanted to do before they did it. During the shampooing they put a cloth over my face which surprised me, they don't do that in the U.S., but it was relaxing.

The person who was cutting my hair was really kind and did a great job of cutting and styling while making conversation in English and Japanese. After the hair cut was over, I even got a free drink. The experience was really wonderful and I will definitely go back. If you want to visit the hair salon, it is called Soko, and is in Kanonji. They even serve food, so you can get lunch before or after your cut!

  

One of my favorite dinners I made back in America was a London broil. For those who don't know what that it, its a very lean cut of steak that holds lots of flavor and juices when it is best served rare to medium rare. And I'm going to share with you my recipe to make this at home on a skillet without the need to broil.

First you buy the meat at a local deli. Typically I go by 1/2lb of meat per person so I would buy a 1lb of London broil from my local deli. The next step is to make the marinade. This is what makes the steak juicy and and flavorful.

What you will need is
- 4 garlic cloves finely sliced
- 1 tsp of salt (5 mL)
- 1/4 cup of dry red wine (60mL)
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (60mL)
- 1 tbsp soy sauce (15mL)
- 1 tsp of honey (5mL)

1. Place all the ingredients and the steak into a large zip lock bag and seal it. Place the bag into the fridge for 4 to 24 hours. Once the steak as been left in the marinade for at least 4 hours remove it and pat it dry with a paper towel.
2. Preheat your oven to 250°F (120°C)
3. Heat oil in the skillet and sear the steak to give it a nice brown crust. This will take about 3 min per side.
4. Move the steak to a backing pan (or leave it in the skillet if you used an iron skillet) and place it in the oven until the internal temperature is between 125°F-132°F (51°C - 55°C).
5. Remove and let it rest for 8 mins then slice thinly with the grain and serve.

I love to serve the steak with mashed potatoes and asparagus and pour the extra juice from the pan or skillet over them.   

One of my biggest hobbies is taking pictures of the most random things I see. I have enjoyed photography since high school, when I thoughtlessly took a class and I ended up really enjoying it! I would spend countless hours in the photography room and work on my digital photo editing. I've had a professional camera but it’s a lot of work to turn on, in addition to adjusting the correct settings and adjusting the lighting. I ended up sticking with my iPhone, which has made things much easier. The majority of my social media photos are taken with my iPhone. I also have an eye for taking great photos and I try to “seize the moment” if I see a great opportunity to take a picture.
  

The weather has been amazing! My weather app says that it is 48 degrees outside?! It feels 60 degrees to me. The breeze is not menacing either! I'd say that the wind feels just right! Safe to say, this is my favorite kind of weather! It is not too hot and not too cold.

I'm seeing new flowers pop up in different places too! The flowers are probably enjoying this weather as well. Though I haven't seen cherry blossoms yet. My wife (Candice-Sensei) keeps saying the cherry blossoms should arrive around the 28th of this month. Maybe if we are lucky they'll come earlier! The weather is so nice, I think I'll be outside most of the day waiting for them!   

Recently I visited the mall with friends. While there, we decided to look at some of the dogs. I enjoy seeing animals, even though I can't own one at my apartment. I was shocked at how expensive pets are in japan. When I was a kid we paid $50 for our pet lab. He was a white lab with gold spots. Even though we got him for cheap he was a good and healthy dog. Needless to say it was a big surprise seeing dogs being sold for so much!


(Not my photo)  

Yesterday was a tiring but very fun day. I got up early to meet with Lizzie and Rolando to cycle part of the Shimanami Kaido. We were lucky and the weather was perfect so we got some great views and made some wonderful memories! However, we were all very tired when we finished our route! I don’t know about them, but I “hit the sack” early last night. To say that another way, I went to sleep early. It’s amazing how fast you can fall asleep after a day full of exercise!  

There was a story-telling guy at this event. He had so many voices, and these little slides to show how the story was progressing. He told me afterwards, that his box had almost 100 stories in it. I'm incredibly impressed at his memory and skills.

The story was difficult for me to follow, and I needed help at the end to get the joke. An onomatopoeia about くわん and くた. You just had to be there ;V

When you see me, ask me and I'll explain the joke. I won't do the voices though. Let's leave that to the experts, right?
  

When I first decided I was going to move to Japan, I was very adamant on not driving. I honestly hate driving, especially in America. But, I knew taking this job at Gem School, that I would have to drive. Although I still am not a fan of driving, I'm very fortunate and grateful I got this experience to drive in Japan. The countryside of Japan is so beautiful and I wouldn't have been able to experience it if it wasn't for this opportunity. Mountains never cease to amaze me!  

I feel that I need to devote this blog to personally cast my vote for GEM in the "Best Place to Work, Best Company Award" contest. I did not get to vote so I wish to do so now, even though it is obvious that they have already won! A lot of other people feel the same way I do!

It is only a few days short of 4 months since I have started teaching here at GEM, but in that time, no matter what the issue or what the difficulty, someone from the school has been there to help. Right from the start, just figuring out the little things around town, someone was there to help. When I needed help with translation or making an appointment, the office staff was there to help. When scheduling had to be rearranged, it was done. When encouragement was needed, someone at GEM offered it- including our very busy owner, Miyuki, whose hands are so full doing so much. Why is she so busy? Because GEM is doing so well! Why? Because her mentality of treating her employees like family has poured over into helping our students shine, like a "Gem"! This award was an award well earned!   

It was a beautiful day and I had been feeling a little bit under the weather. After taking a nice long nap, I decided to go out for some fresh air. I originally intended to take a brisk walk around the apartment. Then something in my head told me to head towards the beach. My mother always said "Ocean air was good for the body and spirit!" I don't know if she had any proof to that but I always tried to visit the ocean after fighting off a cold. I was raised in Florida (U.S.A.) so I was accustomed to being only a small drive from the beach.

When I got to the beach in Kanonji I found a nice spot and closed my eyes. I slowly but surely took in the cool ocean air. The sun was brightly shining on my face. Somehow in the peaceful atmosphere, I felt a wave of energy greet my body. I stayed on the beach for almost an hour and went home with renewed energy. Maybe there is some truth to what my mom said? Just maybe. I wonder if anyone else has heard someone say that ocean air is good for your health?   

This weekend is the first of two preschool graduations, which I'm going to attend. My heart isn't ready!

I'm somewhat better prepared this year, but that isn't saying much. I just hope I can get through my two or three sentence speech without crying... probably not.

This year feels different from last year, mostly because I was their teacher for the whole year. It is going to be a rough weekend.  

On Sunday, I went to the movies to see Captain Marvel. I was excited to go into the movie blind, with no prior comic book knowledge of this superhero. I am well versed in the Marvel Cinema Universe (MCU) though, so I did have expectations.

For some quick info, the Marvel comic superheroes are Iron Man, The Hulk, Captain America, Black Panther, Spiderman and several other well known names. DC comics are Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman. Captain Marvel is a marvel comic superhero.

The best part is that she is an extremely powerful girl. I love and adore a lot of the MCU movies (Avengers and Iron Man are my favorites) but they have all had leading men. It was refreshing and wonderful to see a woman holding her own in my favorite movie franchise. It was important to buy a ticket to support female empowerment and show the film industry that a film like this can be successful.

I can't wait to see her join the next Avengers movie that comes out in April.  

As I'm sure some of you know, I have been missing the large oven I am used to back in the States. One of the things that I miss making is whole roast chicken. It is super easy to make and delicious, so I thought I would give you the recipe to make in case you get the chance to use a big oven.

You will need:
1 whole chicken
olive oil
lemon pepper
salt
rosemary
thyme
1 baking dish
paper towels

How to make it:

Rinse the chicken and pat it dry with a paper towel.

Preheat the oven to 450 F or 232 C.

Lather chicken in oil, salt, and pepper.

Put rosemary and thyme inside the chicken and sprinkle a bit on top.

Bake the chicken at 450 F (232 C) for 15 minutes.

Reduce the temperature to 375 F or 190.6 C and continue baking for 50-60 minutes

Take it out, let it cool, and dig in!

~Bonus tip ~

Take the left over skin and bones and simmer it over several hours. You will get great chicken broth!   

When I first arrived to Japan I found a video game based on a show I really enjoyed back in College and I decided to purchase it and try it out. I got home and to my surprise the game loaded on my system without any region locking warnings popping up. So I start the game and then realized that because I live in Japan the game is in Japanese (duh). But I could still play the game and experience the game play and not understand the texts. Which wasn't that big of a deal, I just couldn't know what stats the equipment were on my character.

But today the game got an America release and I was excited to finally try out the game and understand the story. So I download it off the store and begin to load it up. But to my surprise I'm not kicked into a new game, but instead given the option of loading a save. The same save from the Japanese game. It was nice. All my progress, stats and unlocks where still there and I could continue where I left off. A bigger plus was that the games story is repayable due to it being mission based so I could easily go back and learn what choices I selected blindly the first time.   

This was my first customer who walked in and it took about 15 minutes for me to just get into a chair I passed by this old school barber shop that I wanted to stop by and got a haircut in. This ended up being a huge mistake! We have been through hand motions and me showing a picture on my phone what I wanted my hair to look like. He started with my hair ... and I was a bit. It took about 20 minutes to cut my hair then he asked if I wanted my beard trimmed, to which I answered “yes” but in hindsight, I have no idea why yes, when I only wanted a haircut. He took the scissors and started to cut my beard and I noted there was a lot of hair falling down into my apron.He made a dent on the right side of my beard and left a full patch of bearded on the left side of my face. It's not very noticeable unless I tilt my head It comes to my beard because I have been growing my beard our for a year and eight months. I will never go back to that barbershop ever again.